


Everything on the Ice is Love

by angelswatchingover



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Romance, Spoilers for Episode 10, pair skating, post episode 7, spoilers for episode 12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:30:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9089578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelswatchingover/pseuds/angelswatchingover
Summary: When Viktor tells Yuuri he needs to enrapture the audience with his Grand Prix Final gala exhibition skate, he doesn't know what to do. Obviously, using one of his old programs as he had planned isn't going to cut it. It isn't until Yuuri sees Viktor skating "Stay Close to Me" that he realizes this is what he wants to skate for his exhibition, but to really keep with his theme of love, the solo needs to become a duet.





	

Ever since the Rostelecom Cup, Viktor has watched Yuuri practice with a new level of determination. In the week since his return to Hasetsu, they have spent longer hours on the ice than ever and Yuuri seems to be trying to make up for his mistakes by punishing his body. After his third failed attempt at a quad flip, Viktor decides that they both needed a change.

He drifts across the ice to his student and says through his bangs, “Yuuri, that’s enough for today. You need to think about something new.” Crossing his arms and looking down at the skater still catching his breath with his hands on his knees he asks, “Now that you are going to the Grand Prix Final, what will you skate for the exhibition gala?” 

Yuuri avoids Viktor’s direct gaze but stands straight and shrugs, “I… I’ll probably just re-use my program from last year.”

Viktor gives Yuuri a look of disappointment, “Don’t you want to surprise the audience?”

“I don’t think I’m very good at surprising anyone,” Yuuri answers with slumped shoulders.

Viktor wonders how this man could think such a thing. Since the first time they interacted, Yuuri has surprised him again and again. At last year’s gala, Viktor had never laughed so hard or felt so free as he had when Yuuri pulled him onto the dance floor for a Paso Doble. And at every turn since he became his coach, Yuuri has given him new reasons to smile. The only thing surprising is that Yuuri doesn’t realize this.

“Yuuri,” Viktor sighs as he skates closer to his student, “your theme is _love_ , is it not?”

Yuuri swallows hard as his coach comes closer, their skates nearly touching. “Y-yes?”

“Then build on that theme. Now… what will you skate that shows love?”

Eyes wide as Viktor reaches out to caress his hand, Yuuri cries, “I don’t know! My free skate is about my love of skating and everyone who helped me. And my short program shows eros for y- pork cutlet bowls! I don’t know about other… kinds of love.”

“Yuuri,” Viktor whispers, so close his breath tickles the younger man’s sweat damp cheek and causes a chill to run through him, “you have so much more love to be expressed. You must enrapture me for your gala skate.” 

Pulling back slightly and blinking up at his coach, Yuuri hesitates as if to say something before backing away and fumbling, “I’ll think of something, I promise.” Then he turns and skates off of the ice, leaving Viktor to wonder, not for the first time, why Yuuri resists accepting the love he offers. 

Perhaps he was wrong to assume that after the banquet last year Yuuri felt the same thing he did. Perhaps he shouldn’t have put his career on hold to chase the feelings that the beautiful skater brought out in him. Yuuri was free and expressive and oh so stunningly gorgeous. And when they had danced, it was like nothing Viktor had felt before, they moved together so fluidly and he had felt so alive. Yuuri had seduced and captivated him that night. The only other thing that had ever made him feel close to that alive was skating, but lately even that had left him wanting something more. That is, until he had seen the video of Yuuri skating the program he had created. 

That program had been an expression of his own desires. Every detail crafted by Viktor - from the music, to the choreography, and the costume - to convey the emptiness he had felt for so long. Putting all of his efforts into his skating had become a lonely existence. He had worked hard and achieved more than most people dream of. He had earned awards, fame, and fortune. But it had left him empty; the spark of life and the passion of love had become an ever growing void. 

But seeing the video of the man from the party who had made him so happy skating Viktor’s program beautifully had moved him to change his whole life. It was as if he could feel the music through Yuuri, as if he was a kindred spirit miles away. It had felt like Yuuri was speaking the language of the music to him, expressing the words, _I hear a voice crying far away. Have you been abandoned as well?_

But maybe he had been wrong. Maybe Yuuri didn’t feel the same way at all. Maybe he had imagined something in that video that wasn’t there, his own feelings for Yuuri clouding what he thought the man felt for him. Thinking about this, Viktor skates over and picks up his phone and selects “Stay Close to Me.” The first melancholy notes begin before the lyrics he knows so well and Viktor’s body begins to skate, muscle memory moving him across the ice to last year’s winning program as he gets lost in the story of longing and love.

~*~*~*~*~*~

In the locker room, Yuuri washes the sweat from his face and touches a tender bruise on his right thigh, hissing at the black and blue blooming from too many falls on the hard ice. He looks up and frowns at himself in the mirror. What is he going to do about the gala exhibition skate? Why did he have to pick the theme of love? What does he even know about love? Every since Viktor showed up it seems like he keeps doing things he never would have before: choosing his own music, asserting that he is going to win gold at a press conference, changing programs on the fly, choosing love for his theme. Why does Viktor inspire such daring in him? And now Viktor is asking, once again, for more from him.

Thanks to Viktor’s coaching and choreography, he has been able to bring out his eros love and his agape love through skate. So how else can he express love? The real question is how can he tell Viktor that he is the one who has made him feel love? From the time when he was young, watching Viktor skate was what made him love skating. It was through imitating Viktor’s program that he found hope after last year’s disappointment. And it has been Viktor’s coaching that has reignited his passion. How can Yuuri explain that for him, Viktor _is_ love?

He’ll think of something. He’ll find the perfect song to show Viktor how much he means to him and then, maybe, he’ll stay on as his coach. Determined to give back to his coach the inspiration that he has received, he steps back out into the rink but what he sees stops him.

Viktor is on the ice, skating to “Stay Close to Me” playing quietly from his phone’s little speaker but the Russian skater is lost in the music. Yuuri watches silently as his coach creates a work of art on the ice that would surely break records. Sometimes he still can’t believe that Viktor is here, with him, coaching him. This man belongs in front of audiences. Look at him! He’s beautiful, every line of his body perfection and that hair that seems touched by starlight dances around his flushed face. The music just flows through him and it feels like a sin that there is no one here to see this. But no, this isn’t for an audience. Viktor’s expressions and movements feel personal and intimate and Yuuri feels honored to be witnessing this.

And something inside of Yuuri yearns to join him on the ice. It’s almost a physical force, pulling him to his coach. But he resists and watches, his hands silently doing small pantomimes of the moves he has memorized. As the music crescendos, Viktor pulls off another perfect quad, his distinctive gold-colored blades catching a glint of light coming in from the high windows. And Yuuri’s body remembers those moves, every one of them, while his feet itch to glide over the ice and parallel Viktor. 

That’s when he realizes it... _this is love to him; Viktor and the ice_. He can hardly separate the two. 

“Viktor!” He yells waving his arms. “I’ve found it!”

His coach looks a bit startled to realize he isn’t alone, but he stops his program to face Yuuri, his curious blue eyes and a tilt of his head asking the question as he drifts to the edge of the ice to meet his student. 

“I know what I can skate to express love. Uh…I... Iwanttoskateyourprogram.” It comes out too fast, Yuuri’s nerves getting the best of him as usual. 

But Viktor understands. “My program?” 

“I… yes, your ‘Stay Close to Me’ program. It’s what I skated when I wanted to find my love of skating and it feels like love to me… it's what brought you to me.” Yuuri can’t meet Viktor’s eyes as he says the last part but at least he got it out. He wants Viktor so badly to understand what he means to him. 

Viktor’s eyes brighten and he blinks a few times as a small smile grows on his face. “That sounded like Yuuri saying he loves me.”

“No, no, no,” Yuuri hedges, panicked that Viktor may misunderstand him and be put off. But as he watches his coach’s smile fade, he quickly reassures, “I don’t know how to describe it exactly but I think it’s love that I feel when you coach me and when I skate. I think I can show that through this program.”

Viktor nods and hums in agreement, although his bright smile from before doesn’t return. “Show me.”

And so he does. Viktor starts his music over again and watches as Yuuri begins the program. He loves this music and the way the choreography matches it so well. Through every movement, he can feel the anguish of the singer and the love he seeks. He remembers each step and soon he is flying across the ice, pushing himself to perfect every pattern for his coach. It feels amazing! And with every breath he tries to prove to Viktor that he is worthy of his coaching. He fumbles a jump or two but overall, it’s a good performance and when the music ends he looks to Viktor for his feedback, breathing heavily.

The look on his face is unreadable. Was he not pleased? Maybe he was insulted that Yuuri even suggested re-using a program that had won him gold. What was he thinking? He could never be as good as Viktor. Of course it would do nothing but disappoint him to try. 

Yuuri is embarrassed at his own audacity and hides his face behind his hands. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so presumptuous to think I could ever perform as well as Viktor Nikiforov.”

He feels Viktor’s hands slowly move his away from his face and then a hand gently lift his chin so their eyes meet. With more kindness and sincerity that Yuuri deserves, he says, “I’m honored, Katsuki Yuuri, that you would perform this program, but who will it surprise? The audience saw this last year. What will you do to make it your own? To make it surprising?”

What could he do to make it surprising? Suddenly, he remembers the pull he felt to join Viktor on the ice. He had wanted to skate beside him, their bodies moving in perfect synch. He wanted his love for Viktor and skating to be one. “What if… what if you skated it with me?”

At this suggestion, Viktor’s eyes light up with Yuuri’s favorite smile, the one that brightens his coach’s face, the one so big it squints his eyes and shows off the tiny crinkles at their corners. Hope begins to blossom in Yuuri’s chest, bubbling up as if it wants to burst free. 

Victor looks as if he can’t hold himself back and he throws his arms around Yuuri’s neck. His coach’s excitement is infectious and he reciprocates the hug and buries his face in the crook of Viktor’s neck, breathing him in. 

“I would love to share the ice with Yuuri,” Viktor whispers. But after a moment, he pushes back on his student’s shoulders and holding him so he can speak. “This song is one of loneliness and longing. Is that how you feel about love?”

Yuuri shakes his head, “Not any more. Maybe we can change the song, remove a verse to make it about love and hope?”

“I can do better. I’ll have it recorded as a duet to match us skating as a pair.” His blue eyes are sparkling now with this light of creativity and Yuuri wants to see Viktor like this every day. 

“You can do that?”

“Of course,” Viktor says with a wave of his hand, “I know the original composer.”

And that’s when Yuuri remembers that this is what Viktor is known for. He spent his career breaking down barriers, creating programs that blend with music perfectly. He is reminded that while Viktor is unmatched for his skating skills, it’s the choreographer in him that is the true artist, breaking ground and amazing audiences every year. Hope flutters inside of Yuuri.

“So you will skate with me then?”

“Yes!” Viktor nods enthusiastically, his hands clasped in front of his chest. It seems he too is inspired by this idea. “But we only have about a month to put this together. We will have to learn to move as one.”

“I don’t have any experience pairs skating,” Yuuri admits, shoulders slumping. 

Viktor leans in, his nose practically touching his own, “Yuuri, don’t discount yourself now. Have you noticed that when you trust your own ideas, you succeed?”

“Uh…”

“Good! Then it’s settled. We’ll begin tomorrow. But for tonight, we need to edit the music, plan choreography, choose pair steps we can learn, and costumes!” His finger taps against his chin as he is lost in thought, the artist in him obvious. It’s like watching a master at work. “You can’t very well just wear one of my old costumes. We must match. What is your favorite color, Yuuri?”

He had never put too much thought into a favorite color, but with Viktor standing so close, his blue eyes practically sparkling with excitement, all he can think is that they are the most beautiful color he has ever seen and the feeling he has when they look at him like that is true happiness. 

“Blue,” he answers, deciding that yes, he does indeed have a favorite color. 

“Perfect! I’ll have a blue costume made for you to match mine. And Yuuri,” he adds, his tone changing, taking on a more serious note, “thank you.”

Yuuri is struck speechless and can only blink and nod. How can Viktor be thanking him? He hasn’t done anything for his coach. He has taken Viktor away from the ice, from performing. He still hasn’t earned gold for him. Heck, he hasn’t even paid him coaching fees yet. What could Viktor possibly be thanking _him_ for? Its Yuuri who feels like he will spend the rest of his life owing Viktor for all he has done. 

But when his coach reaches out and takes his hand, he squeezes back and lets himself be led off the ice. Viktor’s passion and creativity are infectious and the two men end up staying up much later than planned that night, excitedly planning changes to the program to make it a pair skate.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Yuuri!” Viktor yells as he jumps on his student, still sleeping soundly tucked into his bed while Makkachin yips happily beside his owner. “Wake up, it’s here!”

Yuuri startles awake to a shirtless Viktor Nikiforov straddling him over the covers with his hands on either side of Yuuri’s head and his face only inches away. His beautiful blue eyes framed by silver lashes are lit up with his smile and his long bangs tickle Yuuri’s forehead. There are worse ways to wake up and for a moment he forgets to breathe. He allows himself to bask in this briefly before it dawns on him that a shirtless Viktor Nikiforov is straddling him and his lips are only an inch away. 

“Whaaa?!” He exclaims and sits straight up, tossing Viktor back onto his heels. 

Not to be deterred, his coach crawls right back to him, caging Yuuri between his arms and his face is a hair’s breath away. “The new music arrangement is done,” he purrs.

“It is?!” He can feel his own face lighting up with excitement. It’s been a week since they decided how they wanted the duet to be arranged and sent off the request to the musician. During that time they have begun practicing synching some of their moves to perfect the timing, but haven’t been able to put them to the actual music yet. “How does it sound? Can I hear it?”

Viktor nods, “I waited for you to listen to it.” He then squints and rubs their noses together before sitting back to tap on his phone and bring up the music. The simple gesture makes Yuuri’s heart flutter and for a moment he wonders how he will be able to touch his coach so much when they skate together if this tiny touch affects him so much. Not knowing what to do with his awkwardness, he reaches out and gives Makkachin a good morning scratch behind the ears while Viktor finds the music.

Before pressing play, he shows Yuuri his phone with a smile, waiting for it to sink in.

Yuuri reads the name of the piece of music and looks up at Viktor, “The name is changed?”

Viktor nods enthusiastically. “Stay By Me… it fits, no?”

And Yuuri thinks that yes, it really does fit. If there is one thing he wants more than anything in the world, even more than winning gold, it’s for Viktor to say by his side, to keep working with him, and coaching him and inspiring him. He knows it’s a wish that can never come true. Keeping Viktor is like caging a bird of flight. 

They both listen silently as the as the simple piano notes begin followed by a pure tenor who sings of a far away voice crying in the distance. He watches Viktor as they both imagine the steps in their heads. But then the strings begin and a soprano voice joins with the tenor, pleading in perfect harmony for the other to stay by their side. And by the time the music crescendos and the lovers sing of their bodies and heartbeats blending together, both Yuuri and Viktor’s eyes are misted over. 

Without a word they both bound off the bed, an unspoken race to get dressed and get to the rink, their eagerness to start the program shared.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The beginning of the program is Yuuri standing alone on the ice. He will skate by himself during the solo part of the music. Once it becomes a duet, Viktor will join him.

Viktor watches Yuuri’s masterful interpretation of the beginning. The Japanese skater never fails to take his breath away. And watching him bring Viktor’s own choreography to life thrills him even more so. 

When the soprano joins the duet in the music, Viktor skates to his student and the first move they have planned is to grasp hands and then he will lift Yuuri from behind to do one spin and land facing one another then he’ll dip his partner to his side. It’s a single spin so it shouldn’t be too hard for the pair. The most difficult part in practice has been for Yuuri to get over his uncomfortableness at being so close. 

Over and over they practice the move and every time Yuuri flinches when Viktor grabs his waist. It makes the move stiff and they have blown the lift spin so many times they are both exhausted. After what feels like the hundredth attempt at the move, it’s still a mess. Viktor doesn’t understand. It’s not difficult. They should have this down and moved onto the next thing long ago. Why does Yuuri recoil at his touch? Is he so repelled by him? Finally, hurt and exhausted, Viktor stops the practice. 

“That’s enough, Yuuri. I don’t know that this will work.”

Yuuri’s huge brown eyes well with hurt and he begs, “I’m sorry, Viktor. I can do this. I won’t disappoint you.”

Viktor sighs, “We are wasting time on this. If you don’t want me to touch you, we should skate side by side.”

“Whaaa- Viktor, no! It’s not… I want to do this with you. I want to surprise the audience and I want to do the lifts. It’s just…” Yuuri sighs, the words won’t seem to come. Finally, he looks up at his coach, “For you, affection comes easy. It’s never been that way for me. I’ve always skated alone. I… I told you about the girl who tried to touch me in college. Even with my family… Viktor, I was away for five years and I came back to not a single hug. I know they love me, it’s just… different.”

Understanding dawns on Viktor. And suddenly the last eight months make a lot more sense. From the time he had first shown up in Hasetsu, he had felt rejected by Yuuri, who recoiled from his physical affections. He had always been a very tactile person, free with his affection. Even when Yakov grumbled about it, he had been hugging his coach whenever he felt proud or in need of support since he was a child. And after the gala last year, after the way Yuuri had held him so easily and led him in such a passionate dance, he thought Yuuri was like him. After all, they had danced in each other’s arms and Yuuri had literally clung to him when he asked him to be his coach. But maybe that was his way of letting go, which could only happen drunk. 

He thinks back to the past eight months. At first Yuuri had seemed almost afraid of his touch. But now when he performs, he seems to need this from Viktor. Maybe Yuuri is like him after all, but can only express this on the ice. After all, he was the one who would lock their hands together and tell Viktor to watch him. And they had embraced after both successes and difficulties on the ice. At the airport, after the Rostelecom Cup, Yuuri had clung to him and opened up to him. It dawns on Viktor that Yuuri needs touch as much as he does, but that he had spent his life being denied it. 

Viktor skates into Yuuri’s personal space and cups his face between his hands and feels the slight tremble of his partner. He leans forward and places a quick light kiss on the skater’s lips. It’s the first time they have kissed since the Cup of China and he is encouraged when Yuuri doesn’t flinch. He then rests their foreheads together and his student seems entranced in Viktor’s gaze. “Katsuki Yuuri, everything on the ice is love. Believe in that when we skate together.”

“Viktor…” Yuuri breathes and Viktor watches him, mesmerized by the expressive brown eyes. 

And the five time world champion skater who always keeps his cool has his breath taken away when Yuuri touches his cheek and initiates a kiss. It’s soft and sweet and it’s what he has been waiting for since their drunken dance almost a year ago. When the kiss is broken Yuuri gives him a look that makes him weak in the knees. Its steady determination and oozing eros as the skater makes eye contact and smirks. Wow, there’s the man who seduced him at last year’s gala. 

“Again,” Yuuri commands, his voice soft and strong, “and don’t take your eyes off me.”

Not a chance, Viktor thinks and nods before skating backwards to the side of the ice to restart the music and watch as Yuuri takes his position. How can this man keep surprising him like this? Look at him now. He’s standing in the middle of the ice in his old black sweatpants, sweaty blue t-shirt, and black gloves. His mop of black hair is going every direction, some sticking to his face from the morning of exertion and his eyes are closed and head down as he waits for the music to begin. And yet he’s somehow the most beautiful thing Viktor has ever seen. _I love this man so much it hurts_ , he thinks.

This time when Viktor starts the music, he sees a different Yuuri. It reminds him of the skater’s flawless but driven short program, it's as if the music is speaking through him. When he hears his cue, he skates to Yuuri, ready to hold his hand into the lift as planned but his student surprises him by meeting him with a caress of his face before grasping his hand. It makes his heart skip as he sees the fondness in his partner’s eyes but he keeps skating. 

When he places his hands on Yuuri’s hips there is no stiffness, no flinch, just complete trust as he lets himself be lifted and turned. Their eyes connect again as he puts Yuuri back on the ice, feather light. Then Yuuri wraps his arm around Viktor’s neck, trusting him as he lays deep into the dip with his eyes closed and head back, exposing his long graceful neck. Viktor remembers telling Yuuri he should enrapture him with this skate and there is no other word to describe what he is feeling now. 

After that, the lifts come easier, the connected moves becoming second nature on the ice. It doesn’t feel like choreography when he reaches for Yuuri, but rather a natural extension of his feelings for him. Sometimes it's smooth and sensual and a few times, practices become sidetracked by soft kisses and cold fingers against flushed faces and warm torsos. Sometimes it’s fun and playful, the two skaters laughing together until they break down into fits of giggles, bodies fallen in a wet tangle on the ice. Other times it’s inspiring and emotional as they move in perfect synch, when they spin together, Viktor holding Yuuri in a graceful layback or when they glide across the ice in a connected spiral with the front of his entire body lining up with Yuuri’s back and his arm wrapped around his partner, holding him close. 

And it all bleeds off the ice as well. Late nights warming exhausted bodies in the hot springs lead to comforting massages of sore muscles and shared showers become fun splashing matches. Shy but pointed looks over meals lead to evening kisses and soon Yuuri’s bed becomes a lot more crowded with two skaters and big brown poodle. It’s nothing more than sharing one another’s space, but the comfort it brings them both is cherished. 

It happens one afternoon when he and Yuuri are walking Makkachin along the beach. Yuuri’s nose and cheeks are flushed in the late autumn weather and he repeatedly has to clear the fog from his glasses. He is bundled up in an ugly unfashionable brown coat with a blue scarf wrapped around his neck and his hair keeps blowing in his face. Viktor takes his hand and realizes, with absolute surety that this… this is what he wants for the rest of his life. He doesn’t know exactly what the future will hold, if Yuuri will win or how long he’ll keep skating, if he will continue to coach or return to the ice. But he knows with more certainty that he can remember feeling in a long time, that whatever happens he wants to be with Yuuri on the ice because for them, what they’ve created on the ice is love.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it's official. I have fallen hard for these beautiful skaters and this amazing anime. I really enjoyed writing these two and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I'd love to hear your thoughts. 
> 
> Also, you can find me on Tumblr at [AngelsWatchingOver.Tumblr.com](http://angelswatchingover.tumblr.com/)


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